So Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra will go on sale in Japan on July 6th. At least now we have a definite release date.Since we are still experiencing trouble with our updater script, it will probably still take some time, before we will be able to bring you your daily dose of news again. Sorry for the incovenience.

For whatever reason, I'm extremely excited for the third installment of Xenosaga. I really don't know why either, because I was only so-so with both 1 and 2 for various reasons. 1 was too slow, didn't have enough "towns" and had little to no music. In 2, the characters were too homogenized (though I did like the combat to an extent) and there were NO SHOPS, which drove me insane. The story has been good though, and I'm rather confident a lot of the things I liked about XS1 and 2 will return in 3, while they'll minimize the things I disliked . . . at least I hope.

Plus, from what I've seen, Allen finally fucking fights. Took him long enough.

Actually, I always did buy useful things. For example, I didn't like the fact that the E.S. Units leveled up as opposed to in XS 1 where you purchased the frames. It doesn't make sense for a machine to get stronger through combat, at least to me.

I find it disheartning that Takahashi decided to cut the game short buy having Ep. III the final chapter. Kinda makes me not even want to play the game, because it isn't supposed to the true final chapter.

Why was it cut in half anyway? I hear its just because of comments about Xenosaga II. A great game, but people complained about it. If thats a reason to cut a series in half, well, that just pisses me off.

When the first part came out everyone was saying it was going to be a six part series....but those six parts were supposed to be spread out from the time of Xenosaga 1 all the way to Xenogears which is several thousand years. So if you think about it, the third installment might be what the developers originally intended: a finality of Shion's story.

Dyne: Takahashi apparently has been involved in the script writing for the DS remake. But yeah, Takahashi's role at Monolith Soft is definitely not as important as it used to be, with younger folks having been in charge of Episode II and now Episode III.

The decision to put an earlier than expected end to the series was not that surprising, given that Xenosaga Episode II only sold about 50% of what Namco had projected in Japan. They probably just wanted to put an end to the series and let Monolith Soft move on.

All I have to do is finish Dragon Quest VIII, then play Kingdom Hearts II (when it's released), and then beat Xenosaga II. I wonder who will get to play Xenosaga III, my girlfriend or me. We switch off every once in a while so that we both get to play.

There's a new trailer for XS3 up on Gametrailers.com. Be warned that it contains major spoilers, in that it reveals the identities of the Testaments. I can safely say that the trailer increased my excitement for Xenosaga Episode 3 quite a lot, even if I still don't hold any very high hopes as to the game's final quality.

It's good to hear that Yuki Kajiura is back to compose the soundtrack, and going as strong as ever. The song in the trailer is amazing.